Dumbledore's Army
by IceFire9
Summary: In response to the threat of mass murderer Sirius Black, Harry starts the DA two years early. As a result he and his friends hone their skills, Harry gains a group of loyal friends, and Harry becomes much closer to a certain redhead... H/G  RL/NT  R/Hr.
1. The Different Decision

**Dumbledore's Army**

Summary: In response to the threat of mass murderer Sirius Black, Harry starts the DA two years early. As a result he and his friends hone their skills, Harry gains a group of loyal friends, and Harry becomes much closer to a certain readhead... will diverge more from cannon events as the story continues. H/G RL/NT R/Hr.

A/N: I would like to thank my two incredibly awesome co- betas.

This basically diverges from canon on the day that Sirius attacks the fat lady.

Also, if you can't read Harry/Ginny, leave now, or forever hold your peace.

Disclamer: I don't own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing fanfictions now, would I?

The Different Decision

"The Fat Lady has been attacked!"

That was the first thing Harry heard when he woke up that morning. Normally this wasn't a sign that the coming day would be a good one.

Indeed, the Fat Lady was absent from her portrait, which only had a slash mark on it. Murmurs of Sirius Black passed through the crowd of Gryffindors as they gathered around the portrait.

"So much for a quiet year at Hogwarts," Ron had grumbled.

The rumors—remarkably—were correct. After much coaxing, Dumbledore had managed to get the Fat Lady to tell them what had happened; Sirius Black had indeed tried to get into Gryffindor tower, no doubt to kill Harry.

By now Harry knew what would happen. Whenever Harry walked near people conversing, they would instantly quiet down; Harry also felt people's eyes in the back of his head. While he had gotten used to this sort of attention (sort of), he still hated it.

The worst part of the day was in potions when Draco Malfoy had suggested that if _someone_ didn't faint every time a dementor came by, they could be closer to the school and catch Black. Ever since then, Harry had felt a few people glaring at him.

It didn't help Harry's outlook that Malfoy had attempted to throw random ingredients into Harry's potion, which often fell short and entered Neville's. Snape had ended up taking points from Harry for throwing things into Neville's potion, and taking points from Neville "For being and incompetent idiot who can't even brew a simple potion right." Neither of them dared to tell Snape that he was contradicting himself in these punishments.

He was glad that he had Ron and Hermione, who did their best to act as a buffer between Harry and the stares and whispers of the rest of the student body. It was a daunting task that Harry was grateful for his friends for attempting.

Harry didn't know how he could have made it through the day without them. Ron particularly, would fiercely respond to any jibes or barbs launched at Harry.

In Transfiguaration, where they were transforming pillows into stuffed bears, Malfoy had mocked Harry about needing one whenever dementors came around.

Ron had then shot back "Next time you face an overgrown chicken, I'll let you borrow his!"

* * *

Lucius Malfoy was sitting in his ornate study, writing a letter.

The escape of Sirius Black had him concerned, not because he thought Black thought he was a death eater, quite the opposite in fact.

That was why the letter that his son had sent him, saying that Black was at Hogwarts, disturbed him.

Malfoy knew that if Black could convince anyone he was innocent, it was Dumbledore. He always had been one for second chances and, however irritatingly, saw the best in people despite their past. Malfoy also knew that if the person that the entire public was sure was guilty was proven innocent, it would start an inquisition. He would not be safe from the new set of trials that were sure to take place.

While Malfoy was fairly confident that he would be found not guilty again, he had no way of being sure of that. Therefore, that it was imperative that Black be stopped before he could contact Dumbledore.

Another thing had him concerned. Black, after all of his years in Azkaban, was probably mentally unstable, what if he decided to take revenge out on death eaters who had were still free? He shuddered at the thought of the deranged man going after Draco.

It would have been much easier to do this if he still had his chair in the Board of Governor's. As it was, he had to call in a favor to Rufus Scrimgeour to get the necessary changes made.  
It would also require a few small bribes to his allies in the Board of Governors to get the school to cooporate sufficiently with the Auror office.

Still, if it meant that Black would be put back in Azkaban where he deserved to be, then it would be well worth it.

* * *

As Harry sat down for dinner, he realized that only Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville wanted to sit with him. It was as if associating with Harry would get them murdered by Sirius Black.

Harry felt his stomach lurch at the thought of Ron and Hermione getting killed by Black just for being his friends; he forced himself to shake off the horrifying vision. He imagined that they would be very angry if he tried to stop spending time with them to prevent something like that.

While he felt disappointed that no one else wanted to sit next to him, Harry also felt relieved that he would be away from their disconcerting stares and hushed conversations.

Harry was jolted from his thoughts by Dumbledore, who had begun making an announcement before dinner started.

"In light of recent events, several aurors will be stationed at Hogwarts until their presence is deemed no longer necessary, I expect everyone to treat Aurors Moody, Dawlish, and Tonks with the utmost respect and cooperation."

"In addition" Dumbledore continued "The Board of Governors has considered it prudent to offer a basic course in dueling, tomorrow night at 5 o'clock, there will be a dueling club taught by Professors Lupin, Flitwick, and Aurors Moody, Dawlish, and Tonks; while attendance is not mandatory, I strongly suggest that everyone attend."

"I believe that I have kept you long enough from this splendid dinner, tuck in!" With that, their food appeared on the previously empty dishes.

"What's an auror?" Harry asked as he piled food onto his plate.

"A dark wizard catcher, blimey Mad- Eye Moody's coming to Hogwarts!" Ron exclaimed "I thought he was retired, the ministry must have called him back!".

"Mad-Eye?" Harry repeated, why on earth would anyone be called 'Mad- Eye'?

"You'll see what I mean, Harry," Ron answered cryptically.

"And the dueling club, that might be interesting too!" Hermione added.

"At least it will be better than the last one," Ron said between mouthfuls of food.

Harry chuckled; remembering last year's fiasco with Lockhart which ended in the general student body thinking Harry was a mass murder setting a monster on the student body.

"Yeah, even if Sirius Black tries to attack us while we're there, I doubt he will torture us with what hair care products he uses." Ginny joked from next to him.

Harry nearly fell over laughing at the image of the wanted mass murderer offering suggestions on hair care; he grabbed Ginny shoulder for support.

"That's brilliant!" He managed between laughs. His laughter was contagious and soon all five of them were in peals of mirth for several minutes.

"So, are you guys going?" Neville asked after they finally calmed down.

"Of course we are!" Ron huffed indignantly.

Hermione turned to Ron, "Don't be so rude, Ronald!" she scolded.

"Seeing as how Black is going after me, I think I should" Harry said.

"Besides, it would be nice to get some good dueling advice for once" he added. Lupin's classes, while informative, were all about Dark Creatures, and their previous two Defense professors hadn't managed to teach anyone anything.

In fact, all Harry knew about dueling he had learned on his own free time, mostly from a book he had gotten at Diagon Alley over the summer, which certainly wasn't enough to go against Sirius Black.

"Yeah, all Lockhart managed to teach us was how to be a complete idiot!" Ron laughed.

"Not that you need much help with that, Ron" Hermione teased, causing another round of laughter.

"Hey!" Ron protested, albeit playfully

At that moment, Harry felt an overwhelming sense of belonging and affection for his friends. It was one of the few times that he truly felt normal.

"And Quirrel wasn't going to teach us much, seeing as how he had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head!" Harry continued for him.

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville predictably flinched, which prompted another laugh from Harry. Normally, it annoyed him how his friends couldn't bear to hear 'Voldemort', but right now it just amused him.

Dinner was without a doubt the best part of his day.

* * *

Even as they were walking back to Gryffindor tower, Ginny had a dazed smile on her face. Hermione was right! All she had to do was be herself and Harry would notice.

Speaking of Hermione, said witch was now smirking at her knowingly.

"Someone's in a good mood tonight." She teased in a sing song voice

"Oh shut up" Ginny managed, but the effect was lost since she was still smiling.

To tell the truth, Ginny felt rather pathetic. She was grinning like a maniac and experiencing the oddest little flutters in her stomach all because Harry had laughed at her joke and touched her.

She hadn't even sat next to Harry with the intent of pursuing any… romantic feelings, she just felt more welcome with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville than she did with students of her own year (except for perhaps Luna Lovegood).

In fact, she had done her very best to push aside any romantic feelings for Harry after Hermione had given her advice last summer. Then of course, Harry had to go ruin all of her planning by simply noticing her. How pathetic was that?

Still, even just being friends with Harry sent thrills to her stomach.

Then to her right, she heard Hermione snickering at her. Ginny glared at her supposed best friend. Hermione returned her glare with the cheekiest smile she could manage. They were interrupted by Sir Cadogan, the portrait who had replaced to fat lady.

"Who are you to trespass on this hallowed ground!" The knight shouted. "Back you scurvy bastards! Or I shall smite thee with my mighty blade!"

* * *

The next day, the Gryffindors had Defense Against the Dark Arts, and no Potions. Just by those two facts alone, the day was shaping up to be a good one.

Ginny and Neville once again joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione at breakfast that morning. A Ravenclaw girl sat next to Ginny, she had dirty blond hair and grey eyes, though they seemed to be dreamily out of focus.

Noticing Harry's attention on the girl, Ginny introduced her.

"This is Luna Lovegood, she's a Ravenclaw in my year".

"Errr, hi Luna," Harry said.

"Hello Harry Potter, you seem to have quite an infestation of Wrackspurts today!" Luna replied, as if talking about Wrackspurts was as normal as talking about the weather.

"What's a Wrackspurt?" Harry asked.

"They're invisible creatures that fly in your ears and make your brain go fuzzy" Luna answered in the same tone.

"There is no such thing as a Wrackspurt, Luna" Hermione informed.

"Oh, they exist." Luna replied assuredly.

Luna spent the rest of breakfast telling them about how her father had determined that Crumple- horned Snorkstacks only lived in Sweden, and how Sirius Black was secretly Stubby Boardman, former lead singer of the Hobgoblins.

Hermione spent the rest of breakfast scoffing at most of what Luna said, who didn't seem to notice.

Harry himself found Luna rather odd and somewhat annoying; but he couldn't find it in his heart to tell her to go away. From the looks of it, she had no friends, and Harry had been in that position for long enough before he came to Hogwarts.

"Honestly, none of those things Luna was talking about even exist!" Hermione huffed after she, Ron, and Harry left breakfast for Defense Against the Dark Arts, while Luna had Charms.

"Barmy, that one is," Ron agreed.

Harry merely shook his head and chuckled.

"Wow, Ron and Hermione agreeing on something; I bet Snape is getting ready to give points to Gryffindor" Ginny quipped.

Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"I bet Sirius Black will be offering Snape advice on hair care as well." Harry joked.

"Goodness knows the greasy haired git he needs it!" Ginny laughed.

After Ginny parted with the trio, the conversation shifted to what Professor Lupin would be doing for class today; he had promised it would be entertaining. Unnoticed by Harry or Ron, Hermione parted from them as well, only to reappear a few seconds later.

As if on cue, they ran into Lupin.

"_Now _are you going to tell us what we're doing today?" Ron asked, somewhat rudely, causing Hermione to reprimand him.

Lupin merely laughed, "You'll find out in a few minutes, Mr. Weasley!"

"I want everyone to write down the name of the most dangerous creature you have ever faced, it doesn't have to be magical, but I would prefer that it is. Then, we're going to have a tournament of sorts, pitting these creatures against each other, theoretically, of course."

"Cool!" Someone shouted, as usual, Professor Lupin's class never failed to entertain.

However, Hermione raised her hand.

"Do you have something to add Hermione?" Proffesor Lupin asked.

"No!" Hermione objected "I just don't understand how this will be educational".

There were several groans throughout the room and one shout of "Don't ruin it Hermione!"

Harry, Ron, and Lupin merely looked amused.

"In each, matchup, if you will, we will examine each creature's strengths and weaknesses; I think that this is a much better way of learning about creatures than by a textbook." Lupn explained.

Harry had no choice but to scribble down _basilisk_. He saw Hermione write _Three- headed- dog_, while he was certain Ron had put _Acramantula_.

Lupin began drawing brackets on the blackboard and writing down creature names as he received the slips of parchment.

When he wrote down Harry's creature, Parvati Patil gasped, "You mean you really killed a basilisk!"

Everyone's eyes were on him, their faces clearly holding awe and wonder at their classmate.

"Errr, yeah." Harry answered awkwardly, blushing as he did so.

"How did you do it?" asked Susan Bones.

"Errr, it was mostly luck…" Harry managed, Ron and Hermione snorted.

"I'm sure there will be more than enough time to question Harry about how he slew a basilisk, _after class_," Lupin interrupted, shooting an understanding smile at Harry.

The next two that were written down were _Acramantula_, which was set against the basilisk, and _Three- headed dog_ and added next to it _(Cerberus)_, which would no doubt be creaming Lavender Brown's creature, which was a garden gnome.

The trio chuckled at the vastly more dangerous nature of their three creatures.

Harry's Basilisk killed Ron's Acramantula "Spiders flee before it," Harry had explained to the class.

Harry was amused to see that Seamus' most dangerous creature was a rooster, which was now pitted against the basilisk.

Harry shrugged when the Basilisk was eliminated, but the rooster had no chance again the three-headed dog. In the end, the three-headed dog faced a tie against itself, since Neville had made it his creature as well.

Lupin was correct; they had learned a lot about magical creatures, many of the students who came from wizarding families had encountered creatures that Harry had never even heard of before.

On their way out, Harry let out a sharp laugh of amusement.

"What's so funny, mate?" Ron asked.

"I was just thinking about how the class would have gone if Luna was there."


	2. Hopeless

Hopeless

A/N: This chapter honestly didn't have as much content as I had planned it to, but the dueling scene took up so much time that I decided to wait until the next chapter for the creation of the DA.

I guess I should talk about the update times. Expect updates to occur every few weeks, maybe a little quicker during summer and other breaks, and not at all during exam season.

Dracarot: Don't worry; they will not be in a romantic relationship until 4th year (if everything goes according to plan). In the intervening time, I will be trying to develop their friendship.

Fury074: I figured that Black being on the loose could have been enough of a reason to pull Moody out of retirement. As for Lucius, I wasn't aware that he had been sacked, but my first priority was making a good story, honestly.

Nymphadora: Thank you for such a detailed review, I appreciate all the time you put into it. As for Harry and Ginny, I'm planning on developing their relationship gradually, probably becoming romantic sometime in 4th year (which means, yes, I am continuing beyond 3rd year).

Tindual: I'd tell you, but who likes spoilers?

Trilonias: Thanks for pointing that stuff out, I'll try to be more careful in the future.

Yellow Flash: I'd could go on about why H/G good, but I'd doubt you'd want to hear it either.

* * *

"The most important thing you need to remember in a fight is to never let your guard down!" Mad- Eye Moody growled, his magical eye swirling around, scanning the crowded hall.

The students were surrounding the front of the hall in a semi-circle. Professors Lupin and Flitwick, Snape and all four aurors, stood inside the formation.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He roared suddenly, causing several students to jump in surprise.

"Just because you think the enemy is down, doesn't mean you can put your wand away; it doesn't mean that you can relax; it doesn't mean that they still can't get the advantage! CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Black blew up a street-full of people with a single spell, do not underestimate him, do not underestimate anyone!" Moody growled dangerously "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!".

"Now, we are going to teach you some basic dueling spells, a shield charm, a disarming spell, and a stunning spell." A much calmer, Auror Tonks continued "Just knowing the spells isn't enough, but it is a start."

"So, who hear knows how to cast expelliarmus?" Moody asked. Several students raised their hands. However, since most of the older students chose not to attend what was sure to be a basic dueling class, not as many as expected.

"This is pathetic" Moody roared. "They're all sitting ducks! What do you even learn in defense class?" The auror glared at Professor Lupin.

Harry felt a surge of righteous anger at the veteran auror, it wasn't Lupin's fault! He was the best teacher they'd ever had!

"Well, it's not that surprising considering that our last teacher was a fraud who couldn't even cast expelliarmus himself, and the teacher before that had Lord Voldemort sticking out of his head" Harry spoke up, defending Lupin. Moody's magical eye focused on Harry, and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, Harry continued on, "Professor Lupin is the best defense against the dark arts professor we've ever had!" he claimed emphatically.

There was a chorus of agreement from around the hall.

"Well Potter, if you're so confident how about you give a demonstration" Snape sneered, grabbing Harry's shoulder and nudging him into the center of the hall.

Dean Thomas laughed as Harry walked out of the crowd of people.

"You find this funny? You'll be the one dueling Potter!" Moody growled, dragging out Dean as well, who had no trace of previous laughter on his face.

The two Gryffindor's faced each other unsurely. Harry desperately looked around the room for a way to get out of this situation. Ron and Hermione were happily cheering Harry on, while Professor Lupin appeared amused by Harry's plight.

"The only rule: no unforgivables, on three!" Moody shouted, leaving Harry to wonder what on earth an unforgivable was and why you weren't supposed to use them.

"One!"

Harry noticed Malfoy laughing, saying something about how he was probably going to faint.

"Two!"

Harry steeled himself, he would not be made a fool of, Harry told himself. A fierce determination engulfed Harry as he raised his wand.

"Three!"

"_Expelliarmus!"_

Dean was completely unprepared for Harry's quick reaction, and he helplessly watched as his wand flew out of his hand into Harry's grasp.

Moody looked at Harry appraisingly as Harry tossed Dean's wand back to him. He then grabbed Pansy Parkinson, who happily strode out to face Harry.

"This is how it's going to work, the person who wins gets to stay, and the person who loses leaves!" Moody said.

"One! Two! Three!"

"_Expelliarmus!" "Petrificus Totalus!"_ Two voices shouted at the same time.

Harry reacted quickly to the bolt of red speeding from Pansy's wand.

"_Protego!"_

The spell deflected off of Harry's shield, harmlessly hitting the ceiling. Harry felt a surge of pride, he had never used that spell in combat before, people seemed to like trying to kill him by living chess pieces or giant snakes instead of spells blockable by the shield charm.

Meanwhile, Pansy fell to the ground as Harry's spell hit its mark.

"_Finite." _A pink haired auror said, pointer her wand at Pansy. Pansy pushed herself off the floor and angrily stomped back to Malfoy, who had a sour frown on his face.

Next, Moody brought Cho Chang up.

Cho smiled flirtatiously at Harry, and Harry felt heat rise to his cheeks. His stomach flip flopped as he couldn't help but be remembered of his dreams of winning the quidditch house cup and Cho jumping into his arms…

"Three!"

"_Expelliarmus!"_

Harry was brought out from his unexpected daydream suddenly and barely managed to fling himself out of the path of Cho's disarming spell.

Harry felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment as he realized that he had allowed Cho to distract him. From his spot on the floor, he saw Cho getting ready to cast another spell.

"_Stupefy!"_ Harry shouted vengefully, and watched in satisfaction as Cho's body fell to the floor like a board.

"_Eneverate" _The pink haired auror cast.

"Good thinking!" She told Cho mischievously "turn up the flirt in a duel."

Cho trudged back to a group of her Ravenclaw friends, but not before smiling shyly at Harry. Harry smiled back, his cheeks once again flushing.

Neither saw Ginny glaring spitefully at the Ravenclaw seeker.

George Weasley, Justin Finch-Fletchly, and a fourth year Huffelpuff Harry didn't recognize were called up by Moody, and all three were defeated.

"Does anybody here think that they can beat Potter?" Moody shouted. Harry could tell that there was a trace of amusement on the auror's face.

Naturally, Malfoy stepped forward.

"Scared Malfoy?" Harry taunted, as the Slytherin took his position in front of him.

"You wish." He shot back, reversing their exchange prior to their previous duel.

Both smiled slightly at that reversal.

"Go!" Moody barked, who had grown tired of counting.

"_Stupefy!"_ two voices shouted simultaneously.

Both raised shield charms, which deflected the other's spell.

"_Expelliarmus"_ Harry yelled, while Malfoy spat _"Tarantallegra!"_

Harry's opponent managed to dodge his disarming spell, but Mafloy's jinx hit him.

Harry held his wand in a death grip to avoid having it knocked from his hand by his erratically dancing legs.

"_Expelliarmus!" _Malfoy cast, while Harry managed to stop the previous jinx with a _finite_.

Harry ducked, not bothering to watch the red spell soar over his head.

"_Rictusempra"_ Harry yelled, but Malfoy blocked the spell with another shield charm.

"_Stupefy! Stupefy! Petrificus Totalis!" _Malfoy shouted in rapid succession. Harry sidestepped all three spells while simultaneously casting _"Expelliarmus!"_

Malfoy was caught in the middle of casting by Harry's spell; his wand was wrenched from his hand and flew triumphantly into Harry's outstretched palm.

There was raucous applause at Harry's victory, especially from the Gryffindors, who had become increasingly jubilant at Harry's string of wins.

"Good job, Potter" Moody grunted, while Professor Lupin was staring at Harry with a mixture of pride and something he couldn't quite place, was it sadness? Harry took that as his cue to leave.

Hermione rushed to engulf Harry in an excited hug while Ron high fived him. Nearby students had immediately begun excitedly asking Harry questions about the spells he used.

They were forced to quiet down in their questions as Flitwick and Lupin began instructing students on various spells, but Harry couldn't help but notice that he received several impressed glances throughout the lesson.

* * *

"I know you like him." Hermione told her.

"Everyone knows I like him." Ginny snapped at the older girl. She had gone to the common room hoping to be able to take her mind off of Harry with homework, sadly this was not to be.

Hermione paused "Just be yourself." She suggested.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"Harry won't ever like you if you're trying really hard to get him to like you, he _hates_ it when people treat him differently." Hermione elaborated "Just... be yourself."

"Thats the most generic advice I've ever heard, Hermione." Ginny noted, giving up all pretense of doing homework by setting her book down on the table.

"Yeah, but its true." Hermione replied.

"Really?"

"Yep, I'm always right." Hermione said cheekily.

Ginny laughed "I can see that you're the modest one, aren't you!"

Hermione blushed.

Meanwhile, Neville had taken a seat near Ron and Harry, who had just started a new match of chess.

"Harry, you've got to think more than one move ahead, or else you'll never win!" Ron tried to explain to Harry, who had long since become resigned to hopelessly loose to Ron.

"Hey, Harry" Neville interrupted cautiously.

"Hi, Neville, what is it?" Harry asked, not paying much attention as he moved a chess piece.

"Well…" Neville began haltingly "I was wondering if you could teach me some of the spells you were using…"

"Sure, how about tomorrow? We don't have classes after lunch, so we could meet up then" Harry agreed while unwittingly moving his queen to its doom. While he mentally shuddered at the thought of teaching a class, Harry imagined that one on one session with a friend could be fun.

"It might take me a while…" Neville added, looking down slightly in embarrassment "I'm not very good."

"Don't worry; we have plenty of time to work on it." Harry assured, while moving his pawn forward a space.

"Checkmate, mate" Ron proclaimed triumphantly "Five moves, Harry, that's an all-time low for you".


	3. These Meeting things

**Dumbledore's Army**

These Meeting…Things

* * *

"So where do you think we should practice?" Neville asked Harry as they ate their lunch.

"I was thinking of using an abandoned classroom," Harry answered "We wouldn't want to accidentally hit someone".

"Practice for what?" Hermione inquired "I've been having a hard time with McGonagall's homework, maybe a little bit of practice is what I need…"

"Harry's just showing some of the spells that he used last night," Neville answered hurriedly, not really wanting to draw attention to his need for instruction.

"Oh, that's a brilliant idea!" Hermione gushed "Can I come too? I'd like to practice shield charms, I mean I think I've got it, but I haven't gotten to test it yet…"

"Could you show me the one that slowed George down?" Ron asked "What was it… impedimeta?"

"Impedimenta," Harry corrected "Look, I'll show you guys but-"

Harry never got to finish his sentence because Dean, Seamus, and Parvati had overheard what they were talking about converged on Harry.

"That would be great!" Seamus said excitedly. "That was the best dueling I've ever seen!"

Harry thought that that was going too far. "I'm not that good," he told them tensely, unsurely eyeing the gathering crowd.

"You killed a basilisk last year and stopped You-Know-Who two years in a row!" Parvati called.

"That was luck!" Harry argued "The only reason I was able to stop Voldemort—" everyone flinched "was because of sheer luck!"

Hermione and Ron both snorted, provoking a glare from Harry.

"What?" he demanded.

"Only you could downplay beating You- Know- Who three times!" Ron managed.

"Honestly, Harry, give yourself some credit!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry viewed the array of faces peering at him expectantly. Ron was silently laughing at his predicament while Hermione was rolling her eyes at him. Neville looked nervous, perhaps at the idea of practicing while everyone could look at him. While Ginny hadn't said anything, she looked beyond excited about this idea. Luna was…well, how she always was. However, Harry felt the eyes of another Ravenclaw on him…

"Okay, I'll do it," Harry relented. He heard several whoops from behind him.

"I'll look for a place and I'll tell you guys before dinner," he decided "We'll meet up tomorrow, since it's a Saturday, I'm sure we can find a time that suits everyone." Harry took his leadership role flawlessly.

"Can we bring friends?" Parvati asked.

Harry shrugged "Fine." Since he was already submitting himself to this, he didn't have much to lose.

* * *

"What are you reading?" Hermione asked Harry, who had been nervously flipping through a bright red book constantly that Saturday.

"It's just a defense spell-book that I got at Diagon Alley last summer." Harry told her "I might as well be prepared."

"Oh, come on Harry!" Hermione urged exasperatedly. "You're going to be brilliant!"

Harry shook his head defiantly; didn't she realize that they were all expecting that he was some sort of defense against the dark arts prodigy? Everyone would surely be disappointed when they realized he wasn't an inch the hero that defeating Voldemort three times suggested he was.

He told her as much, which just caused her to scoff.

"If saving my sister by killing a basilisk _with a sword_ isn't heroic, I don't know what is," Ron pointed out.

"It all sounds more impressive when you put it like that," Harry countered irritably.

"But that's beside the point!" Hermione interjected. "You know more about defensive spells than I do!"

Ron's jaw dropped. "You just admitted that someone else knows more about something than you do!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I'm not _that_ arrogant."

"Well, this is the first time that you admitted that," Ron argued.

Hermione simply glared at him, she seemed to want to say something, but bit it back. Instead she turned to Harry.

"Look, it'll just be a one-time thing, then you won't have to worry about this anymore," Hermione persuaded.

Harry still looked unsure. "It'll be a disaster".

"Well, when the room blows up, we'll be right beside you," Ron joked.

Harry groaned.

Ron and Hermione paid no heed to him, and proceeded to half lead, half drag him into the classroom. Harry was forced to leave the book he had been reading behind.

There were many more people there than Harry had thought would come.

There were at least twenty people when Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked in. Fred and George brought Lee Jordan. Both of the Patil twins showed up; Dean, Seamus, and Colin were also there. Harry's heart leapt as he saw Cho Chang standing with one of her friends, but it fell when he realized she was talking rather flirtatiously with the boy he recognized as the Hufflepuff seeker.

Tearing his gaze away from Cho, Harry's eyes were drawn to Ginny's characteristic red hair; she was talking to Luna. Neville seemed to be steeling himself for the lesson in the corner. While there were certainly more Gryffindors, about half of the students were Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

And right now, every one of them was looking at him.

"Errr, glad to see that everyone got here without any trouble," Harry said.

No one responded.

"Well, I guess we'll begin."

Everyone remained silent.

Harry had mentally rehearsed what he would teach them and what he would say. He had inwardly winced at some of the things he would say.

But now, in front of all of these people, all of those things flew out of the window.

"We're starting with expelliarmus, the disarming spell. Whatever your opponent has in their hand will fly toward you, whether it is a wand, knife, or anything else…."

Ginny felt breathless as she watched Harry teach. He appeared so comfortable, so in his element. She knew that he had really been stressing over doing this, and while she was glad that he realized that he could, she was more preoccupied with how Harry had easily taken charge of the situation.

Something about the way he confidently showed them how to cast Expelliarmus, Stupefy, and Protego; how he had authoritatively told them to break into pairs and take turns casting spells on each other; and how he corrected people who were having trouble left her heart racing and her faced flushed…

"Ginny, if you grip you're wand any tighter, it's going to snap in half." Harry laughed, causing Ginny to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Look, it's good to be afraid and alert in a fight, but you can't let that affect you're performance, you have to be sure of yourself."

"Thanks," Ginny answered breathlessly.

"Here," Harry offered, putting a calming hand on her back. "If you keep standing like that you'll have back problems; you have to be comfortable."

Ginny obligingly relaxed into a more comfortable position.

_Merlin…_

Her back was resting against Harry's chest in what was a little _too_ comfortable of a position. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest and the steady beat of his heart.

Harry then took her hand in his and adjusted her grip; her hand had been white with the force that she had been clutching her wand.

"Go get 'em, Ginny," he whispered.

He partner, Zacharias Smith, had been smirking during the entire exchange.

"Enjoy that, Weasley?" he teased.

Forgetting all about _expelliarmus_, Ginny shouted, "_Bates Mocos!_"

Zacharias screamed as bats crawled out of his nose and proceeded to fly in the air attacking him.

Now Ginny was the one smirking, very proud that she had gotten the spell right.

She heard Harry laugh, and Ginny smiled apologetically.

"Well, I didn't say you couldn't cast other spells," Harry reminded her. "Just don't go too hard on him."

"Aye aye, Captain," Ginny mock saluted.

Harry laughed again and Ginny watched as he moved on to Neville, who hadn't been able to cast any of the spells. Neville looked ashamed and Harry appeared to be reassuring him.

"_Petrificus Totalus_" Ginny fell over as Zacharias' spell hit her.

He smiled victoriously down at her. Ginny glared at him impotently from her newfound spot on the floor. _Why does Harry have to be so distracting?_ Ginny fumed internally."You okay, Ginny?" Harry asked her, amused. She pushed herself off the floor after Zacharias had reversed the spell.

"No, thanks to you!" Ginny huffed, crossing her arms.

"Me?" Harry asked in genuine confusion.

"You were distracting me!" Ginny accused, pointing a finger at him.

"How so?"

"You were…" Ginny trailed off, realizing how she had trapped herself.

Harry's smile grew and his cheeks colored.

Ginny looked at her feet and flushed in embarrassment.

Neither spoke.

"It seems that you both have a case of the Wrackspurts!" Luna chimed, unknowingly breaking the tension. Harry and Ginny laughed.

"Perhaps," Ginny chuckled.

An hour of shouting, spell work, and falling onto the floor later, it was time for dinner.

"Same time next week?" Alicia Spinnet asked as they began to get their things.

Harry was blindsided by that question; he hadn't even considered doing more than one class, but he had enjoyed this one…

Hermione elbowed him.

"Yeah," Harry blurted out.

No one appeared to have objections to this arrangement.

"Also, I think we should have a name." Hermione suggested.

There was a general murmur of agreement.

"Any ideas?" Harry asked, he had worried so much about teaching everyone that he didn't actually think about a club name…

"How about the Defensive Association, or DA for short?" Cho suggested.

"Great idea, Cho!" Harry agreed "We'll just call ourselves the DA."

Everyone continued to gather their things and file out of the classroom.

"You were brilliant, Harry!" Hermione gushed.

Harry blushed modestly.

Ron snickered at Harry's discomfort.

"I wouldn't say I was _brilliant_…" Harry began.

"No, incredibly awesome is a better term," Ginny interrupted.

Harry shot an exasperated look at her.

"Oh, sorry Harry," Ginny smiled mischievously. "What I meant was, 'you were absolutely terrible, and everyone loathed you'. Better?"

"Surprisingly, no," Harry answered sarcastically.

"But you did say we're having more of these meeting…things." Hermione noted.

"Yeah, I did," Harry replied.

"I think Hermione is digging for more information from you," Ginny informed him.

"When is Hermione not digging for information?" Ron asked rhetorically.

"I think she is," Harry concluded, he gave no indication that he was going to reveal anything else.

"You have no idea what to do, do you?" Ginny asked.

"Alright, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing," Harry confessed hurriedly. "So I haven't really got a lesson plan together yet."

"We can help," Hermione volunteered enthusiastically "I bet that there is a scheduling charm that we can use, and we should really find some books in the library on defense. "

"And by 'we', we mean Hermione" Ron laughed.

"I only have so much time in a day, you know!" Hermione fussed "I really don't think I can do all that much."

"Okay, whatever you can do to help would be great, though" Harry conceded.

* * *

A/N: Well, Here's the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Trilonias: Thanks for pointing out that Harry didn't know many of those spells yet. I hope that what I write in this chapter is a satisfactory explanation. About Hermione and Ginny, I confess I didn't think much about that; they probably would have gotten closer over the summer while seeing Harry, but I do see you're point.

Everyone else, just because I don't respond to your reviews up here doesn't mean I don't appreciate them, it's just that there wasn't much that needed a response, thanks to all of those who reviewed!


	4. Falling

**Dumbledore's Army**

Falling

"Impedimentia!"

Zacharias Smith, who had been previously running strait for Harry suddenly slowed down, moving at less than half the speed he had been.

The spell wore off, the sudden difference in speed tripping Zacharias up.

After regaining his footing he commented "It's like moving through water."

"Depending on the strength and skill of the caster, Impedimentia will have different effects. A strong enough spell can completely stop a person, while weaker ones can slow people down momentarily." Harry explained.

"Impedimentia is very useful in that it will make it much harder for your opponents to block or cast spells for some time. It will also aid you in escaping from faster enemies."

"It can be blocked by a shield charm, but as we covered last class, as spells become more advanced, protego will become less effective, requiring more strength and skill to deflect the spell."

Harry then instructed people to break off into pairs. In the past two classes, he had been able to develop a system. People who got the spell with ease (most likely Hermione, as well as some of the older students) would help Harry with instructing students who were having trouble with the spells.

Cedric Diggory in particular easily learned the spells that Harry had showed them. He would then help Cho, which Harry was determined _not_ to show jealousy at.

Yet, later in the class, when Cedric decided to correct Cho's posture from behind, Harry couldn't help but scowl at the display.

He almost didn't catch Hermione's panicked yell from behind him, almost.

As it was, Harry whirled around to see Hermione fending off flying bat bogeys. Ginny stood in front of her frantically apologizing.

"Finite" Harry said, the bat bogeys dissolved in mid- air.

"What the bloody hell was that!" Ron yelled.

Ginny stared at her brother in shock.

"You could have hurt her!".

"Stop being so overprotective, Ron" Hermione said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm really, really, really, sorry, Hermione" Ginny apologized again "I don't know what came over me."

"Oh, I do." Hermione answered cryptically.

Ginny blushed a brilliant red.

Harry and Ron wore clueless expressions on their faces.

"What's this about?" Ron asked.

"Nothing!" Ginny snapped.

"Yeah, I definitely believe that." Ron stated sarcastically.

Ginny rolled her eyes but couldn't think of a good comeback. Instead she threatened Ron with a bat boogey hex, which appeared to shut him up.

Harry pondered Ginny. He could never have imagined even a few weeks ago how incredibly fierce her spirit was. Her personality (and temper) was a fiery as her hair. He could only guess at what Hermione had done to provoke Ginny, and was surprised that such a bright witch would even dare to do so.

His mind wandered back to the class a week ago when for a moment. He had no idea what had provoked him to do… exactly the same thing that Cedric was doing to Cho…

But he couldn't like Ginny, he liked Cho!

Harry glanced at Cho again. She was beautiful in every aspect of the word, she was confident, talented, she played seeker for quidditch… of course he liked her!

Didn't he?

* * *

"My dear, I fear that you are in terrible peril!"

Predictably, the person who said this was Professor Trelawney.

Trelawney's habit of constantly predicting Harry's death made Divination rival Potions for Harry's spot of worst class, even beating out History of Magic.

Ron and Hermione both agreed with Harry's sentiment, if for completely different reasons. Ron hated the oppressive scented perfume that constantly hung in the air, while Hermione despised the complete lack of anything informative or rational in the class.

For Ron that was a silver lining, it made it laughably easy just to glide through homework by making predictions up, in fact, as long as Ron and Harry made sure to predict their own suffering and death multiple times, they got better grades than Hermione who actually tried.

Harry found absolutely no joy in predicting his death, or having someone predict it for him. This was probably because it was possible that he would die very soon. He had narrowly avoided death multiple times in the past two years, and this year looked to be shaping up just as danger filled as the last two.

What if Trelawney was right? What if the Grim really was an omen? Was he fated to die? Having the darkest wizard in the world out for his blood did not bode well for him.

"Do not laugh at this danger, for it will befall him as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow!" Trelawney cried, probably in response to a snicker that came from Ron. This provoked a scoff from Hermione.

Harry wasn't paying attention. The perfume in the room assured that more than any amount of droning from Professor Binns ever could. Add that to the fact that he would never learn _anything _in that class…

More often than not, he sunk into dreams of black dogs, flying hippogryphs, and red hair…

"Harry! It's time to go! Unless you want to enjoy the smell some more" Ron said, rapping a hand on the desk. Harry jumped up from his slumber, knocking over an unused piece of parchment, quill, and ink. Hermione was, quite oddly, nowhere to be found.

Sometimes Harry regretted signing up for Divination.

Their next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, one of the few classes that Harry actually looked forward to.

"Today, we will be discussing Werewolves." Snape's voice echoed sinisterly throughout the room. Harry's heart plummeted as he realized that Snape would be teaching.

"Professor?" Hermione asked tentatively "We aren't supposed to be covering Werewolves for several months now…"

"For once in your life, you should keep silent, Granger" Snape sneered "Do not question my teaching methods"

A clearly suspicious look crossed Hermione's face.

Harry had no idea what Hermione was thinking, but she seemed to be in a hurry to test her theory, because she was anxious to get back to Gryffindor tower and nearly dragged the two of them behind her.

"Blimey, what is it Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Nothing" Hermione huffed.

Harry and Ron shared a disbelieving look; Hermione seemed to be telling them less and less lately. She had yet to explain how she took Ancient Runes and Divination simultaneously.

Hermione hurried up to the girl's dormitory leaving confused Ron and an unhappy Harry behind.

"Do you think Ginny knows?" Harry pondered.

"Maybe" Ron thought "Girls share stuff like that, don't they?"

"Okay, what do I supposedly know?" Ginny, who had just walked down the stairs from the girl's dormitory, asked.

"Whatever Hermione's up to" Ron said bluntly.

Ginny laughed. "I wish, I wanted help with Charms homework and she just shoved me out. She was getting astronomy charts out for some reason."

"So what, she needed to do astronomy homework?" Ron asked.

"I don't know" Harry sighed "Maybe".

* * *

Rain bombarded Harry's face with almost painful force. Hermione had cast a spell on his glasses to repel the rain, yet visibility was still terrible at best. Huge gusts of wind periodically swept players along its whims, making hard for even Harry to control his Nimbus 2000.

Lightning flashed in the distance, illuminating the entire stadium in radiance for a split second. Harry's eyes widened and a feeling of dread shot through him as he spotted the figure of a huge black dog.

_The Grim._

As quickly as he had spotted it, it was gone. As hard as he looked, Harry could not find the dog.

Harry hung idly in the air for a few seconds. He was chilled to the bone, not just from what he had just seen, there was something else…

Then he saw it, the snitch!

With a burst of speed, Harry raced toward the snitch. In the corner of his vision, Harry recognized Cedric speeding toward the snitch as well. Wildly he imagined catching the snitch, having Cho run into his arms instead of Cedric's.

Both of them veered upward as the golden speck shot upwards. Harry tried to ignore the growing chill that was enveloping him, but it only grew.

_It's him!_

The vision of Cho was sucked out of him and was replaced by the desperate yells of his father. Harry's stomach dropped as he realized what was happening. A black shape floated closer to him. Harry felt the water on his broom freeze.

_Lily, take Harry and run!_

_Stand aside foolish girl._

Harry slowed down as he began to black out.

_Please, take me instead! _

_Avada Kedavra!_

He vaguely realized that he was falling.

_Harry!_

Harry couldn't tell if the voice was coming from the horrors of his past, or from the present.

"Harry!"

* * *

Harry woke up in a bed. He blearily opened his eyes and recognized where he was. Even with his blurred vision, he had been in the hospital wing enough times to know what the ceiling looked like.

Everything came back to him, the game, the grim, the dementors...he groaned.

"He's awake!" Someone exclaimed.

Harry's hand instinctively found the bedside table in search of his glasses.

His glasses were obligingly placed over his eyes by an unknown hand. As Harry's vision cleared, he recognized his visitors.

Hermione had been the one who had put his glasses on for him. The entire Gryffindor Quidditch team (except for Oliver Wood) was also gathered around his bed, along with Ginny and Ron, who had a bundle of something in his arms.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Alicia Spinnett asked.

Harry smiled weakly at their concern.

"I dunno, how'd you reckon you'd be if you had just fallen a couple hundred meters?" Either Fred or George asked.

"I bet I'd feel chipper!" The other twin answered.

"It's not funny!" Ginny scolded "He could have been _killed._"

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, you fell…" Hermione answered. "There were those dementors on the pitch and Dumbledore was furious; he shot this silvery stuff at them."

"It was the same stuff that Professor Lupin shot at the dementor on the train," Ginny commented thoughtfully.

"No, I mean the match," Harry corrected.

Silence followed.

Harry's eyes darted from face to face. "You mean we _lost?_" Harry asked desperately.

"Well, yeah," George answered. "Wood's in the showers, probably trying to drown himself."

His joke fell flat as the fact that they had lost sunk in for Harry.

"Cedric Diggory caught the Snitch just moments after you fell," Katie Bell explained tentatively. "He wanted to call the match off, have a rematch or something, but Hooch wouldn't allow it."

Harry groaned. They had lost and it was his entire fault!

"It's not your fault!" Ginny rebuked, as if reading his mind.

"It is," Harry insisted. "If I didn't go and faint every time those things get near me…"

"But you don't have any choice in the matter!" Ginny argued. "So stop beating yourself up about this."

"Speaking of beating…" Ron began.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded.

"What!" Ron exclaimed, his ears turning red.

"Don't be so insensitive," She snapped.

"Guys, what happened?" Harry interrupted.

His two best friends looked at him unsurely; Harry felt a sense of dread come over him, what else could have gone wrong?

"Well, it's your broom," Ron started.

"It was blown away when you fell," Hermione said.

"And it flew…" Ron paused.

"…Straight into the Whomping Willow," Hermione finished.

Harry groaned again; he felt Ginny put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

Ron passed the bundle in his arms to Harry. Inside there was what amounted to a pile of splinters and wood chips. He knew immediately that it was a lost cause.

Harry just frowned and laid his head back against his pillow.

He vaguely heard Madam Pomfrey shooing his visitors off as the world fell away from him.

* * *

Harry frowned as he looked idly down at his breakfast.

He didn't feel like looking up, he didn't think he could bear seeing everyone staring at them. While no one was staring at Harry, he assumed that they were.

"Harry…" An exasperated voice sounded.

Harry looked up to see the youngest Weasley eyeing him critically.

"What?" he asked.

"If you don't start eating, I'll tell my mum," she threatened. "And I really don't think you want her fussing over you any more than usual all summer."

Harry threw an annoyed look at her. "I'm just not hungry."

Ron scoffed.

"Not everyone has your appetite, Ron," Harry responded. "And just because I have a lot on my mind lately, doesn't mean I'm going to starve."

It was his first breakfast since being released from the Hospital Wing, and he had only stayed there for a day. He couldn't keep the events of the quidditch match out of his head, the Grim, the Dementors, losing his broom and the match, having to hear his parents die again…

He must have gotten a shade paler at that thought, because Hermione voiced her concern just as Ginny's expression became more worried.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked.

Harry exhaled. Ginny and Hermione shared a look while Ron rolled his eyes.

"What did you expect? He's been attacked by Basilisks, three headed dogs, giant spiders," he shuddered. "And You-Know-Who himself loads of times, everything else is bound to be great compared to that!" Ron said.

Nobody commented on that, not because they had nothing to say, but because Luna Lovegood had decided to sit next to them.

"Hello, Harry, it is nice to see you out of the hospital," she said in her usual far off tone.

"Hi, Luna," Harry responded simply.

"Madam Pomfrey didn't even try to get rid of your Wrackspurt infection, did she?" Luna asked.

"I'm afraid she didn't," Harry answered with as much seriousness as he could muster.

"It's a pity, and I had told her just the day before about a potion to ward them off, it involves the feather of a hippogriff, two cups of newt eyes, and the horn of a crumpled-horn snorkstack."

Harry had to admit that while he had found Luna rather annoying when they had first met, he was beginning to like her quite a bit. She was the only one who treated him the same after the match.

Harry left breakfast for the common room feeling much happier than he had when he had started.

"Hey Harry!" Harry heard his name being shouted from behind him. He groaned internally as he recognized, he sincerely hoped Cedric Diggory wasn't the bragging type.

He wasn't.

In fact, he looked apologetic "About the match—"

"Look, its fine," Harry cut in hastily. "You won, I lost; the only thing I really hurt was my ego"

Cedric disagreed. "It wasn't fair though, you would have caught the snitch if it weren't for the dementors."

"Yeah," Harry echoed unenthusiastically.

"I tried to get a do-over but…" Cedric grinned suddenly. "I have an idea."

"What?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"We could have a rematch!"

"It wouldn't count," Harry said.

"So?"

Harry found himself liking the idea more and more as their conversation progressed.

"Do you think your team would be up to it?" Harry asked.

"I've already asked them about it; our captain thinks it would be good practice."

Harry nodded. "I have a feeling Gryffindor will be more than happy to have a rematch."

As Cedric and Harry went their separate ways, Harry found that he could no longer detest the Hufflepuff for being involved with Cho, Harry couldn't find it in himself to hold a grudge against someone for flirting with a girl he liked.

"Harry!"

What was it with people running up behind him and calling his name?

This time it was Ginny.

"What is it, Ginny?" Harry asked.

"I've got an awesome idea!" Harry might have been annoyed, but the enthusiasm that was clear in Ginny's voice made it impossible. In fact, in spite of all his determination to remain in a sour mood all day, Harry found himself greeting Ginny cheerfully.

"Oh, well remember when the dementor was in the compartment and Proffesor Lupin shot silver stuff at it?" Ginny said.

"No. I was passed out, remember?" Harry responded.

Ginny blushed in embarrassment at forgetting that key detail.

"No, it's okay; what's your idea?" Harry assured, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You could get Professor Lupin to teach you how to repel the dementors," Ginny suggested, looking up at him eagerly. It was clear that she was hoping he'd like her suggestion.

In fact, Harry did like it, a lot. In fact, he immediately turned and started half walking, half running in the direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

He looked over his shoulder at Ginny. "Thanks!" he called out, giving her a genuine smile. She smiled back, blushing again, but for a completely different reason.

Assured that he had properly thanked Ginny, Harry set off towards Defense Against the Dark Arts; hopefully he wouldn't be interrupting a class.

* * *

A/N: So yeah it's definitely been way too long between updates. To make up for it, I'm giving you guys an extra-long chapter. Honestly, I had to cover a lot of stuff that happened in the book, but it needs to be done, I hope I was able to put a new spin on it. It also felt a little jumpy, did you guys think that?

Benperez31: You're pretty much right about Harry and Ginny, and as for the name, they may change it when Umbridge comes around or they might not, I haven't decided yet.

Jokegirl: Thank you, and yes, you are now one of the select few in the 'review response' club. Lol.

Katsumara: I've had that happen to me before loads of times, I'm glad you rediscovered this too.

smartygal93: Ah, thanks. I'll correct those soon.

Teufel1987: Thanks for catching that, I'll go correct it ASAP.

Trilonias: Oh, I'll go look at that, thanks.

Wizmage: I'm not giving spoilers, sorry!


	5. Interruptions

**Interruptions**

_Thunk!_

"Oh sorry, was I interrupting something?"

Harry had stumbled upon a very awkward scene. The pink-haired auror Tonks was on the floor, having evidentially fallen at Professor Lupin's feet.

Tonks sprung up like lightning, only to knock a stack of papers off of Lupin's desk.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Tonks apologized repeatedly as they both rushed to pick up the papers.

Harry just watched the unfolding scene with growing amusement.

"I can come back later…"

"No, Harry," Lupin said. "Auror Tonks was just leaving; what do you need help with?"

Lupin leaned back against his desk as Tonks stood up and walked out of the room, looking as dignified as one could possibly be while having pink hair. Professor Lupin's eyes followed her as she strode away.

"So, Harry," Lupin resumed, tearing his gaze away from where Tonks used to be. "What do you need help with?"

"You made the dementor on the Hogwarts Express go away," Harry said.

"Yes, that is true." It might have been a trick of the light, but Harry swore he saw a twinkle of mischief and amusement in Lupin's eyes.

"Could you teach me?" Harry elaborated.

Lupin paused in thought "I'd assume we could use a boggart to help us practice…" He pondered.

"Is that a yes?"

"That is very advanced magic," He warned.

"So?" was Harry's ready reply.

"I like the way you think, Harry." Lupin smiled. "But learning this spell won't be easy; most adult wizards can't even manage it."

Harry just waited expectantly.

"How about you meet me here this time next week? I assume you do not have classes right now."

Harry laughed. "No, I'm not skipping class."

"Good, then I'll see you then."

As Harry walked toward the common room with the goal of relaxing, he was sure he heard the telltale crash of a suit of armor hitting the floor somewhere in the vicinity of Professor Lupin's office.

* * *

"I'm starting next week!" Harry announced to his assorted friends at the lunch table.

"That's great!" Ginny beamed.

"Bloody brilliant!" Ron seconded, then a beat. "Starting what now?"

Ginny laughed. "He's learning how to cast a spell to repel dementors."

"That must be terribly advanced magic," Hermione speculated.

"That's what Lupin said," Harry replied "Do you reckon I won't be able to do it?"

"No! Not at all." Hermione backpedalled "It'll just be a lot of work."

"It will be worth it." Harry said.

"It'll be _brilliant_! I bet Wood would love to hear all about it," Ron commented, now actually aware of what was going on "He really wants to see those buggers bite it!"

"Language!" Hermione scolded.

Ginny laughed.

"Speaking of Wood…"

Harry told them about Cedric's offer for an unofficial rematch.

"He's not a bad bloke, Cedric," Ron conceded. "Imagine if you had lost to Malfoy!" Harry shuddered at the thought. Malfoy wouldn't let him live it down as it was; he didn't want to imagine what it would be like if Malfoy had personally beat him.

"Although, I would love to see what color his skin becomes when he's near a dementor," Ginny added.

"Translucent, probably." Harry laughed. His laughter was joined by Ron and Ginny. While Hermione tried her hardest not to follow them into hysterics, but she couldn't help the smile of amusement that crossed her face, or the giggles that barely escaped from her mouth.

"Don't fight it, Hermione," Ginny urged.

"You guys are incorrigible," Hermione complained unconvincingly, as she was still smiling.

"You know you love us, Hermione," Ron teased, blushing a second after he said it.

Hermione rolled her eyes in response, still smiling.

* * *

"Today, we're just going to be going over what we've learned over the past few days," Harry announced to the DA.

He could tell not many people were enthusiastic about the prospect of review.

"We'll be having a dueling tournament; everything you've learned in our lessons up until now is allowed," Harry continued. People looked more excited about this.

Since there were an odd number of people in the DA, Harry had decided to act as referee. He and Hermione had worked out who would be facing who earlier that week, matching them up based off of skill.

Harry, using a temporary sticking charm that Hermione had taught him, posted the tournament diagram on the wall, and people immediately swarmed around the chart.

Harry had to edge his way through the crowd, toward Hermione who was amusedly watching his attempts to escape.

As he was about to make it out of the crowd, Harry tripped over someone's leg, and stumbled onto the floor at Hermione's feet.

"Having trouble there, Harry?" she laughed.

Harry just shot her an exasperated look as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Why's Ron in there?" Harry asked, he had remembered showing him the chart yesterday…

"I told Ron that he should at least check to see who he was partnering with," Hermione said. "But apparently he didn't listen to me, and look where that got him!"

Harry laughed along with her. Just then, Ginny emerged from the cluster of people as if escaping from quicksand.

That didn't make sense; he remembered Ginny paying full attention to him when he had told her who she was partnered with first. Suddenly Harry laughed, as he realized what happened.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked.

"Poor Ginny, she was standing right next to me when the stampede came!" Harry explained. "I should have warned her."

Ginny turned, hearing his laughing. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him as if to say "Really?"

Harry just gave her a sheepish grin.

Hermione was grinning herself; Ginny always stood next to Harry…

About five seconds into the first round of duels, Harry realized that this wasn't going to work.

For starters, two people had already been hit with spells that had come from someone other than their opponent.

Normally things weren't so hectic, but things were much faster-paced in duels. Compared to the relaxed, almost playful, atmosphere of a normal DA class, Harry felt more like he was in the center of a food fight.

"All right, everyone stop!" Harry shouted. Everyone stopped fighting; the two people who had been hexed were quietly revived by their partner.

"People on this half of the room will go first," Harry said, motioning towards his left. "People on the second half will go after they're done."

The DA members nodded, with those on Harry's right moving towards the walls to give the rest space.

"I wish we had more space," Harry sighed to no one in particular. Hermione had heard, apparently, and responded.

"Me too," Hermione agreed. "But this as large a classroom as any."

"Yeah," Harry echoed as he idly watched Ginny duel Cho

"Perhaps we could hold it outside." Hermione suggested.

"Yeah, but then we'd have to move inside if the weather's not good, and that would waste a lot of time."

Hermione nodded. "If only I knew enlargement charms" She muttered.

"Aren't those Newt level spells?" Harry asked incredulously.

"A bit." Hermione answered sheepishly "It's always good to be prepared."

Harry laughed and returned his attention to Ginny.

She was an excellent dueler, Harry noted, and she seemed to be going after Cho rather viciously.

He really couldn't see any reason why Ginny would hold a grudge against Cho.

_Girls_, he figured.

Cho was talented in her own right, but it seemed that she didn't stand a chance against the fiery red head, who went after her with all of the vicousness of a wildcat.

"_Expelliarmus!" _Ginny shouted. She smirked triumphantly as Cho's wand flew into her hand.

Ginny gave Cho's wand back to her and shook hands with the Asian girl. Her eyes then began searching the room. She must have been looking for him, because when she found Harry she smiled and made her way, or more like pranced, toward him.

Harry smiled in return, his previous conversation with Hermione completely forgotten as Ginny approached him.

"Hey, you did great!"

Ginny beamed at Harry's praise and began talking animatedly about the duel.

Hermione simply shook her head.

Harry and Ginny talked to each other long after Hermion had gone up for her first round of dueling. It wasn't until Ginny had to duel in the second round that they separated.

It took much longer to finish the tournament than Harry had anticipated. This was mostly due to having to split up the first set of matches, but also because some duels lasted far too long. This was particularly true when Fred and George faced each other in the second round.

While Harry didn't time them, the twins' fight took so long that it was bordering on ridiculous; Harry wondered if they had extended the fight on purpose, and Ginny assured him that they almost certainly did.

To Harry's chagrin, Cedric Diggory was the winner of the tournament. While Katie Bell, who Harry would have rooted for even if Cedric wasn't her opponent, put up a hard fight, the Hufflepuff Seeker was ultimately victorious.

Nevertheless, Harry was satisfied with how everyone was doing; they had all improved since the first class.

"Great job, guys. You all have really gotten better these past few weeks!" Harry told them, echoing his inner sentiments. "Same time next week, and we'll start getting creative with what we're learning, too," Harry announced as people slowly began to disperse.

It was then that Harry noticed something interesting; during their first class, most people left immediately. Recently though, people were staying around more, either to talk to their friends, ask Harry questions, or practice a little more on spell-work.

Harry frowned as Cho hugged Cedric, probably congratulating him. She walked out with him, laughing. Alicia and Katie were also walking out, both waved to Harry as they left.

Fred and George were testing out a spell on a stool. Harry had no idea what the spell was, but considering the many colors the stool was turning after it had been hit, Harry had no doubt that it was for a prank.

Fred (or was it George?) looked at Harry, winking at him and putting a finger over his lips. Harry smiled and nodded, winking back conspiratorially.

The person who always stayed the longest was Neville. He always practiced spells after each session. Despite all of his hard work, Harry's dorm-mate was still behind most of the rest of the class.

Harry himself liked to watch everyone as they left, and Hermione, Ron, and Ginny usually stayed with him as well. That was the case today.

Ron and Hermione seemed to have gotten into an argument about something completely unimportant. Ginny was softly laughing at their antics.

Luna was Ginny's almost invariable companion and by association, ended up spending more and more time with the trio.

Honestly though, the trio was becoming more of a quartet, or even sextet. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were accompanied by Ginny, Neville, and Luna more often than not.

Harry then decided he wouldn't refer to his group of friends with a name, it wasn't worth it and, to be honest, sounded a little weird.

"Do you know what you're going to be doing with Professor Lupin?" Ron asked Harry as the group walked out of the classroom.

"He told me that we'd be using a boggart, since it'll turn into a dementor, I don't know if we're doing that this lesson or not.

Ginny frowned "Won't you just pass out again?" She asked.

Harry bristled "Well, if I can't cast this spell in the presence of a dementor, what good am I?"

Ginny's frown deepened, she knew enough about Harry to know that he wasn't willing to admit that this might be something he'd have trouble handling.

**A/N:** Once again, way too long of a wait time. Nevertheless, here's an update.

DanielWhite: No, not really.

benperez31: Yeah, the title has a double meaining, you got it spot on.

hushpuppy22: Thank you for pointing that stuff out, I've made corrections to the earlier chapters. I really appreciate you corrections.

Luiz42000: Remus didn't really suspect anything until the very end, so I doubt things would be that different in this timeline, especially since the two timelines just diverged and not a lot has changed. Thank you for the suggestion though.

stark40763: I'll keep your suggestion in mind. I do have major stuff planned for Fleur and Krum in year 4, and that actually might fit in with what I'm planning.

The Purple Eyed Fox: They don't need the Room of Requirment yet, once they do (probably 5th year), they'll find it. Eventually some Slytherins will become apart of the DA, but not this year.

Thank you everyone for all of the reviews!


	6. Blast from the Past

Blast from the Past

Harry had to admit (if only to himself) that he was somewhat nervous about facing the boggart. He could only hope that what Professor Lupin would teach him would prove to be useful. If not… well at least Lupin would be the only person to see him faint.

Harry forced himself to eat a large breakfast. Ginny had insisted that it might help him in his lessons. While Harry didn't think it would, he figured it couldn't hurt and he hoped it would make Ginny less worried.

In fact, he was pretty sure that Ginny was more concerned about this whole thing than he was. Hermione was worried as well, though she seemed to think the solution was to get him to talk to her about it. Harry wasn't sure what to think of their concern. While it felt nice to have someone worrying about him, was a little bit of confidence too much to ask?

Ron wasn't apprehensive in the slightest, which was heartening in its own way. Neville too told Harry that he was sure he would do well. Luna had warned him to avoid any Notterwhiles as they drained one's constitution.

Harry's mood was actually most lightened by Luna's suggestion. Still, he was apprehensive as he approached the door to the Defense Professor's office.

Awaiting Harry in Professor Lupin's office was said professor, standing next to a shaking chest.

Harry's gut lurched as the chest suddenly jumped. He had seen far weirder things than that in his two and a half years in the wizarding world, but that didn't stop his nerves.

"So I'm guessing that this is the boggart you were telling me about." Harry ventured.

"Yes, I'll be letting it out the chest and letting it take the form of a dementor, the perfect way for you to practice."

Harry paled the slightest bit at that; he didn't think he would be facing something like this so soon…

"Don't worry, it won't be as bad as a real dementor, and we can always deal with it using ridikulus if necessary," Lupin assured him.

Harry nodded, as much to assure himself as to assure the professor that he could handle this.

"I just wish I knew why these bloody things are so attracted to me." Harry muttered, trying to calm his nerves.

"Perhaps they see you as more vulnerable? I don't pretend to be an expert on Dementors." Lupin suggested. Harry nodded in acknowledgment.

"So what do I have to do?" he asked.

"The incantation to the patronus charm is 'Expecto Patronum', but the incantation alone isn't enough," Lupin explained. Harry nodded in understanding.

"You see, a patronus is the manifestation of positive emotions, which will protect you or even drive away dementors if the spell is powerful enough," Lupin continued. "The best way to project your emotions is to channel them through a happy memory."

"So I have to think about a happy memory while casting the spell?" Harry asked.

"Do more than just think about it; let it fill you up, immerse yourself in it," Lupin replied.

Harry nodded and closed his eyes, searching his mind for a good memory.

"Okay, I'm ready," Harry said, although from his voice, he sounded anything but ready.

Harry heard the click of the trunk opening, and then…

At the sight of the dementor, Harry felt the happy feeling of immersion slip away from him no matter how hard he tried to hold onto it. It was like scooping up water only to have it slip between his fingers.

Still, he had the memory in his head; he had to try… "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted.

Nothing.

The dementor glided forward and Harry took a startled step back. "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted again, louder this time, but to no avail.

_Lily, take Harry and run!_

Distantly, Harry felt his knees sting, but couldn't bring himself to focus on it as the cries of his mother echoed in his mind.

_Please not Harry!_

* * *

"I'm glad I had the foresight to put a cushioning charm on the floor."

Harry groaned and pulled himself off of the floor.

"Here's some chocolate." Lupin offered, handing Harry a piece. Harry took it and ate it, even while frowning moodily.

"I honestly didn't expect you to get it on your first try, Harry," Lupin said at Harry's downcast expression.

"I know," Harry mumbled, despite this, there would always be something disheartening and embarrassing about collapsing on the ground. "But that doesn't mean I like it."

Lupin merely nodded at that.

"You should sit down before we try again," he added, gesturing to a rather comfortable-looking seat off to the side of his desk.

Harry had to admit, he didn't feel like standing up at the moment. Against his pride, he accepted the professor's invitation.

Harry could tell that Lupin wanted to ask him a question. He didn't really feel like answering questions at the moment, so he didn't prompt him.

Finally, Lupin's curiosity seemed to have won over, because he asked, "I'm curious, what memory did you use?"

"The day I got my Hogwarts letter," Harry answered after a pause, smiling slightly as he remembered the day that his life changed forever.

"Oh, you'll have to find a better memory than that; you need something that is overwhelmingly happy."

Harry frowned; he couldn't think of a memory that was much better than that. The day he got a Hogwarts letter easily ranked among the top five days of his life.

Harry decided to try the day the he, Ron and Hermione became friends; the day the Quirrel let a troll into the dungeon. While he remembered the happiness of knowing that he had made a lifelong friend, he also felt the fear and suspicion of that day.

While Harry thought that the silvery mist he made this time was an improvement, he should have known that memory wouldn't good enough.

The first time he rode a broom was also a bust, as was the first time he visited the Burrow. Harry was worried that he had no memories would be good enough to repel a dementor. He desperately didn't want anyone to know that though. Talking even vaguely about his childhood made him feel vulnerable.

"Harry—" The professor started.

"I know!" Harry fumed. "I need a happier memory!" His voice rose in volume with each syllable. "The thing is I DON'T HAVE ANY!"

Harry's hands were shaking visibly, his right hand clutching his wand so tightly that his knuckles were white. His face was red with undirected rage. In the background, a mirror cracked violently. Class sprayed through the air and scattered across the floor.

It seemed that Harry's loss of control lasted for only a moment, because almost instantly afterwards, he clammed up, horror and mortification growing in his eyes.

Harry paled until his skin tone nearly matched Malfoy's.

How did he lose control like that? Why did this keep happening? First, he blew up his Aunt Marge, and now he blew up in front of a professor!

Professor Lupin was staring at Harry, his expression indecipherable. Harry couldn't bear it.

He stammered out a lame apology to Lupin and rushed out the door.

Remus sadly watched him leave. If Harry had looked back, he would have seen his professor wearing an unmistakably guilty expression.

If Harry had looked or listened at all, he would have noticed that Ginny Weasley had just dashed away from the door as he left.

* * *

After Harry blew up like that, Ginny didn't really want to see what would happen if he had caught her eavesdropping on them.

Well, she wasn't eavesdropping; she was just going to bring Harry some chocolate from the kitchens (a rather eccentric elf named Dobby had attempted to heap nearly an armful of the candy on her when she mentioned it was for Harry). She had been about to walk in, but she didn't want to interrupt their conversation. She couldn't help but overhear.

She had heard enough.

From what Ron and the twins had told her, the Dursleys were pretty terrible to Harry. The bars on his windows weren't a good sign.

Honestly, she though that Fred and George were just trying to get out of trouble when she had first heard about it. Ron swore a few days later that Harry did in fact have bars on his window, but Ginny had a hard time imagining how anyone could treat _the _Harry Potter that way.

Then her first year happened. Now she could easily imagine someone treating Harry like that, and it made her blanch.

She realized now that she was more than a tad naïve about Harry, and people in general, back then. She had imagined Harry as a knight in shining armor, the picture of perfection, someone who could do no wrong and would sweep her off her feet.

It was no fun being the damsel in distress, but when Harry had rescued her he had been every bit the knight in shining armor she imagined him to me.

Now, she realized she was wrong about him. He was no story book hero. He was more than that. He was a boy who had tried to do the right thing for someone he barely knew, even if it meant near certain death. And now, when she looked at Harry, she saw a lonely kid with no family and no happy memories.

_Well, not any more._

The twins were much easier to find than she had originally anticipated; they were standing next to the entrance of the dining hall in what an uninformed person would say was innocently. Ginny immediately suspected something.

"Fred, George, what are you two doing?" Ginny demanded.

"Why do you doubt our innocent intentions, dearest Gin-gin?" Fred gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. Ginny rolled her eyes

"I know you," she replied, smirking "So spill, what did you two do?"

Satisfied smirks spread across their faces. "Let's just say, dinner is going to be…"

"Colorful," the twins said in their usual way of finishing each other's sentences.

"But enough about that," George said, ushering her away from the door to the dining hall.

"There is something much more important to discuss."

"When did our innocent little sister find out about the kitchens?"

"How did you know about that?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"A Prankster never reveals his secrets!" they said in unison.

"Then I guess I won't be revealing how I found out about the kitchens then, will I?"

"Touché" The laughed.

Ginny paused.

"Ginny thinking about something before saying it? What a shock!" George exclaimed.

"Unheard of!" Fred seconded.

Ginny rolled her eyes at their teasing, but her expression remained thoughtful and somewhat unsure.

The twins took on a somewhat more serious disposition as George said, "What are you thinking about, sis?"

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to reveal a few of those secrets to Harry, would you?" Ginny finally answered.

Fred and George exchanged a look. "What rule do you want Harry to break?" Fred started.

"Because he does well enough on his own," George completed.

"Particularly with that cloak of his." They said together.

"Harry doesn't have permission to go to Hogsmeade, and I know you know secret passages that go there."

The twins exchanged another look. "It just so happens…"

"That we were planning…"

"To give Harry…"

"Really pass down to him…"

"Something that would help him…"

"Do just that!"

Ginny smiled. "Good, he'll need something fun to do, to keep his mind off of things."

* * *

That dinner, when the population of Hogwarts entered the dining hall, they were greeted by a rather colorful scene.

Each of the tables, the house tables and the teacher's table, were rapidly changing colors. One minute, they were glowing a forest green, the next they were hot pink, only to change to a light blue color.

Fred and George wore their most innocent smiles as they walked into the dining hall, even though nearly everyone knew they had done it. The teachers, in fact, weren't bothered, while Snape seemed to barely be able to contain his distaste (though that might even been an improvement over his usual self), Dumbledore was actually amused, and McGonagall seemed to be fighting not to smile.

The biggest surprise was Lupin, who was openly delighted by the joke. It seemed for a few moments that their teacher had been replaced by someone much younger and happier.

Despite the colorful show, Harry was still withdrawn from his lesson with Professor Lupin. Neither of his two best friends knew what happened in his lesson with the Professor. Hermione had been too busy studying to interrogate him like she normally would have done, and Ron had not pressed beyond Harry's first round of denials.

Ginny gave him a small, reassuring smile from across the table, but didn't comment on what she had seen.

Harry's spirits had been further darkened by Dumbledore's announcement that next weekend would be a Hogsmeade weekend. Ron and Hermione would be off enjoying themselves while Harry would be stuck with the second and first years.

"Hey, _Harry, _pay attention!" Ginny snapping her fingers rapidly in front of his face brought his concentration back to the present.

Said redhead was fixing him with a stubborn, yet concerned, gaze.

"You really should eat, Harry," Ginny said, her tone softening.

Harry was about to tell her that he simply wasn't hungry, but Ginny interrupted him.

"Just humor me."

Harry paused for a second, and began to eat small bites of his food. He actually surprised himself with how much he was able to eat.

Ginny gave him a dazzling smile that gave him a warm, tingly feeling in his chest. He couldn't help but smile back at her.

All he could think about through the rest of dinner was that he had found his silver lining to not being able to go to Hogsmeade next weekend.

He was in a decidedly better mood through the rest of dinner. Both Ron and Hermione noticed Harry's decisive change in mood.

"Glad to see you're feeling better, mate," Ron said. "I thought that the pudding would cheer you up."

Hermione snorted, "It's always about food with you, Ronald."

"Well, I was right!" Ron argued back. Harry stayed out of the argument, but basked in the familiarity of their bickering.

Sometime during their argument, Lee Jordan walked up to Harry.

"Harry, Fred and George asked me to give this to you," Lee told him, holding up a letter.

"Thanks," Harry said, taking the letter from him, all the while wondering what the twins would want with him. Could it be a prank?

Harry unfolded the note and read it to himself.

_Harry,_

_Meet us in the practice room after dinner; we have something to give you._

_Gred and Forge_

Ron and Hermione didn't notice Harry reading it, but Ginny was looking at him curiously.

"What do Fred and George want?" she asked.

"Don't know," he answered honestly. "They want me to meet in the classroom where the DA meets after dinner. Do you think they're going to prank me?"

Ginny flashed him a smile. "I have a feeling you'll like what they'll give you."

Harry gave her a suspicious look. "What do you know about this?"

"Not much more than you do," she answered evasively.

Harry just looked at her, silently saying he wasn't buying it at all.

"Alright, how about a deal?" she asked.

"What kind of deal?" Harry grinned, leaning toward her.

"If you let me borrow your invisibility cloak, I'll tell you everything I know about what the twins want with you," she offered, smiling as well.

"Deal," Harry immediately agreed. "Now tell me everything you know."

Ginny giggled. "It's going to be something that will help you sneak into Hogsmeade."

Harry felt even happier with that piece of information. In fact, he'd go as far as to say that he was in a good mood for the rest of dinner.

With this in mind, Harry walked to the DA practice room moderately confident that this wouldn't be some elaborate prank by the twins. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how they would help him; would they show him secret passages out of the castle? Offer to provide a distraction?

Said pranksters were waiting for him when he walked through the old wooden door to the classroom.

"Hello, Harry," George said.

"Err, hi," Harry greeted somewhat awkwardly.

"I bet you're wondering…"

"Why we asked you here…" The twins said in their hard to follow way of finishing each other's sentences.

"Yeah, I was," Harry answered.

They grinned at each other.

Without explanation, Fred flourished a blank piece of parchment at him.

"This," George said, gesturing to the parchment, "is the solution to all of your problems."

"Great, I've always wanted a worthless old piece a parchment to carry around." Harry's voice was laced with sarcasm.

The twins' eyes danced with mirth. "An old piece of parchment, he says!" Fred exclaimed.

"Worthless, he says!" George echoed.

Harry felt like he was missing something.

"It may look like a worthless piece of paper…"

"But looks can be deceiving."

With that, Fred flicked his wand over the parchment, saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Harry watched, transfixed as ink spread across the pages in intricate patterns.

On the front, it read:

Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs proudly present:

**_The Marauder's Map_**

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing! Many people have said that they haven't seen this idea before. I'm glad I've been able to come up with something fairly original.

TheMaddyHatter: I already have the next few chapters written (though not edited). I suppose I can see some parallels with the Half Blood Prince, (Harry and Ginny's relationship, private lessons), but the overall plot basically mirrors the Prisoner of Azkaban with a few major changes.

benperez31: I found Remus and Tonks' relationship to be very funny overall. No, I won't answer anything beyond that, spoilers!

DukeBrymin: The reason Ginny didn't suggest 'Dumbledore's Army' was because they aren't working against the ministry. Right now they're just learning to duel and defend themselves against Black. Also, thanks for the idea about Ginny learning patronuses with Harry, she is badly affected by Dementors too. (Thanks for pointing out that typo as well!).


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